Skinnyman

I like Pat Metheny. I have many of his albums which I listen to regularly and enjoy. Then there's his solo effort 'Zero Tolerance For Silence's which is, quite frankly, a p*ss take. I assume it was a contractual obligation thing before he left his label. But it's dreadful. Or, as this is jazz and he's one of the greatest jazz guitarists of his age, am I missing something profound? In which case, can someone tell me what it is?

This uses the UHF band and looks similar in concept to those FM transmitters you can plug into an iPod and have it play through the car radio. They suffer terribly from interference, particularly as you drive around and signals come in and out. If you're only using this in the house, you should be able to find a 'spare' slot in the UHF frequency range that's free from other channels. There's a chance that passing taxi drivers could end up listening to you playing (although i doubt the transmitter has enough power for that). I suspect there'll be quite a lot of compression so the sound won't be brilliant - but that's speculation. You'll only know if you try - and for £17, it's not a big risk. I have a g60 system which is superb. But that uses the 2.4ghz band and is designed for stage use - with a corresponding price tag. HTH

I have an Epi Es175 which I have string with flats. They suit the guitar perfectly and give me that smooth jazz tone I wanted. I don't think I'd like them on my Stratocaster though

As I totter towards my dotage, I find that I suffer from a condition known as “essential tremor”. My dad had it and has kindly passed it on to me. This is a, generally untroublesome, condition whereby my hand will, in certain positions, randomly shake. Not a lot. Well, not usually. But enough to make it virtually impossible to play consistently with a pick. 90% of the time, it’s fine. But every now and then - and often enough to be disruptive - my right hand shakes uncontrollably and jumps around all over the place. When this happens, I have no say at all in which strings gets played next. Has anyone else suffered from this and is there anything technique-wise which might help? I generally play finger-style but would like to be able to use a pick as well so that I, and not my hand, decides what technique to use and when.

Another Bass Chatter here and loving what you’ve done with the place.... I like having a separate forum to discuss the “love that dare not speak its name” and get help working out what to do with the extra two strings and wonder why they’re tuned a semitone different to the others. I hope this place develops a vibe of its own - but also keeps the overall air of mutual respect and tolerance that has made BC such a great place to hang out for the last few years. Gear-wise, I’ve got “enough” guitars - according to the Good Lady, anyway. Possibly the most unusual being a nice K-line Mustang-a-like that I picked up a few years ago for a very good price. I didn’t like the authentic P90 hum so I put a pair of Kinsman pickups in it and got it set up by the phenomenal Jon Haire in Peterborough. I’ve since added a Roland GR77 pickup to it and made it my second favourite guitar. The favourite being the Epi ES175 I picked up a few weeks back..... Anyway, hello fellow BC refugees and to those single-minded characters who only came here for the guitars....